Effect of a developmental stimulatory package on the fine motor development of the 1-12 months old, foster care children

Due to repeated environmental disparities nursery children are at risk for developmental delay. This study aimed to determine the effect of an evidence-based care package on infant fine motor development. In this clinical trial at the Ali Asghar (AS) nursery of Mashhad, an evidence-based care package was utilized. Fifty babies with the age of 1-12 month eligible for inclusion criterion were randomly divided in to the intervention (25 infant) and control (25 infant) groups. Then the care package was administered for the intervention group, three times a week for 8 weeks (24 sessions of two hours). Fine motor developmental age of the children was assessed by Denver-II, before the intervention, 6 and 8 weeks after the intervention, and the resulting data were analyzed using independent t-test, Mann- Whitney U and repeated measures. The mean age of the sample was 20.64±14.62 week,consisting of 32% female and 68% male. The mean of the fine motor age respectively were 23.5±14.2 and 21.1±17.7 in the intervention group and control group (P>0.05). After 6 weeks implementing the care package, the mean of the fine motor age in the intervention group (33.3±14.9) and control group (23.3±14.4) showed a statistically significant difference (p- 0.008). Two weeks later (8th weeks) this value in the intervention group (35.8±13.4) and control group (24.9±13.4) showed a statistically significant difference (p<0.001). Six weeks intervention by this evidence-based care package is effective on the infant's fine motor development. This effect was approved 2 weeks later.